This War Within Fishing leveling guide will walk you through leveling your Khaz Algar Fishing skill up to 300 and highlight some of the new features and additions to fishing in The War Within.
Fishing Trainer
You can learn the War Within Fishing skill from Drokar in Dornogal.
Fishing Skill and Catch rate
It feels like Fishing in The War Within might not be fully polished yet, or at the very least, it's a bit unusual.
The Fishing cap has been increased to 300, which is reminiscent of what we had in Classic, and they've added the new Khaz Algar zones to the Fishing Journal with recommended fishing skill levels.
However, the recommended Fishing skill doesn't seem to function as expected. For instance, the first zone recommends a Fishing skill of 1, but after spending an hour fishing there to level up, I only managed to catch about 7 fish in total. Most of what I pulled up was useless junk, which is strange since, in nearly every expansion, you could at least catch something valuable even at lower skill levels.
Currently, if you want to catch anything worthwhile while leveling, you have to fish in pools. This method is much slower for leveling, especially with the increased level cap.
As you level up, things do improve. With a character at over 400+ Fishing skill, I found that I could consistently catch fish in open water. But until you reach those higher levels, the process can feel frustratingly unrewarding.
Leveling Fishing in War Within
Currently, there are two main ways to level Fishing.
Pool Fishing
If you want to catch anything valuable, your best bet is to fly around one of the zones and look for Fishing Pools. I'd recommend Isle of Dorn or Hallowfall since it's easier to just fly in a circle there.
Watching Movies or YouTube
The other method is to stay in one spot and level to 300 in about 2.5 hours. While the 'watching movies' method is a bit of a joke, it's also a viable way to make the grind more enjoyable! This is how I actually did it.
Here's how to do it step-by-step:
- Download and install the Better Fishing addon.
- Go to Settings > Keybindings > Better Fishing > Cast and Interact to set keybinds.
- Press the key to start fishing.
- Wait for the fishing sound.
- Press the key to interact with the bobber.
- If you have a second monitor, put WoW on it. If not, use a laptop, or just go into windowed mode and shrink WoW to fit another window beside it.
- Find a good podcast on YouTube or a series on a streaming service.
- Start the movie, then click on WoW on your second monitor to keep it in focus.
- Make sure the movie isn't too loud, and turn WoW sound effects up so you hear the "Splash" sound.
- Start watching the movie.
- When you hear the "Splash" sound, press your keybind to catch a fish, then press it again.
- Zooming in all the way with your camera might help a bit.
- Repeat this for 2.5 hours.
Now you have Fishing 300 and enjoyed a movie at the same time!
List of Fishes in The War Within
Common Fish
| Fish | Zones | Pools |
|---|---|---|
 Bismuth Bitterling
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps | Glimmerpool |
 Bloody Perch
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps Hallowfall | Blood in the Water Bloody Perch Swarm Calm Surfacing Ripple Festering Rotpool Swarm of Slum Sharks |
 Crystalline Sturgeon
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps | Glimmerpool |
 Dilly-Dally Dace
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps Hallowfall | Blood in the Water Calm Surfacing Ripple Festering Rotpool |
Uncommon Fish
| Fish | Zones | Pools |
|---|---|---|
 Arathor Hammerfish
| Hallowfall | Blood in the Water |
 Dornish Pike
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps Hallowfall | Calm Surfacing Ripple |
 Goldengill Trout
| All Zones | Festering Rotpool Glimmerpool Infused Ichor Spill |
 Kaheti Slum Shark
| Hallowfall Azj-Kahet | Blood in the Water Swarm of Slum Sharks |
 Nibbling Minnow
| All Zones | Calm Surfacing Ripple |
 Pale Huskfish
| Azj-Kahet | Festering Rotpool Infused Ichor Spill |
 Quiet River Bass
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps | Calm Surfacing Ripple River Bass Pool |
 Roaring Anglerseeker
| All Zones | Anglerseeker Torrent |
 Specular Rainbowfish
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps | Glimmerpool |
 Whispering Stargazer
| Isle of Dorn The Ringing Deeps Hallowfall | Stargazer Swarm |
Rare Fish
| Fish | Zones | Pools |
|---|---|---|
 Awoken Coelacanth
| Azj-Kahet | - |
 Cursed Ghoulfish
| All Zones | All Pools |
 Queen's Lurefish
| Hallowfall Azj-Kahet | Royal Ripple |
 Regal Dottyback
| Hallowfall Azj-Kahet | Royal Ripple |
 Sanguine Dogfish
| All Zones | Blood in the Water Bloody Perch Swarm |
 Spiked Sea Raven
| Isle of Dorn Hallowfall | Anglerseeker Torrent Calm Surfacing Ripple Glimmerpool Stargazer Swarm |
Valuable Fish Used in Cooking
High-level cooking recipes specifically require rare fish. The rest of the fish are all basically the same. They all get turned into the 
Fresh Fillet ingredient during cooking.
Some of the lower-level cooking recipes do use uncommon fish, but it's uncertain how many people will opt for those since most guides recommend focusing on higher-level foods.
Here's a list of fish that I believe will be the most valuable: